Tamil producer C.V. Kumar, known for films like "Attakathi", "Pizza" and "Soodhu Kavvum", credits word-of-mouth promotion as one of the reasons for his success, adding that it's vital for any low-budget movie.
"If the budget of a film is less than Rs.5 crore, then it's unlikely that a producer can shell out more on promotions. In such cases, word-of-mouth is very important for low-budget films because I believe it has helped all my three films to do exceptionally well at the box-office," Kumar told IANS.
"It's through positive word-of-mouth audiences come back to watch a film. Most people watched 'Pizza' and 'Soodhu Kavvum' more than once because they liked it and the buzz around the film was kept alive due to the talk," he added.
Kumar, however, says there is a flip side to the word-of-mouth promotion, which entails risk.
The director feels that "conventional methods of promotions" should also be considered as word-of-mouth is "extremely powerful and risky and it can backfire if the talk around the film is negative".
"It spreads like fire, positive or negative and, therefore, one needs to be careful," Kumar said.
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"Even before critics review a film, people tweet about it nowadays. They either appreciate the film or pan it and its impact will reflect on the film," he added.
He says everything boils down to the content of a film
"Positive or negative word-of-mouth eventually depends on the content of a film. If viewers like a film, then they will recommend it to their friends and family, and if it's bad, then they will also urge others not to waste money," he said.
Is it because of social media audiences' verdict has become powerful?
Agreeing with the fact that "social media has become extremely powerful in the last few years", Kumar added: "I remember few years back people used to watch a film, come out and tell their friends about it, but nowadays they tweet or post on Facebook after every scene."
Kumar is currently awaiting the release of Tamil horror-thriller "Pizza 2", a sequel to "Pizza".